Because the human body has many shapes, contours and protuberances, when an individual lies in a prone position, to rest, relax, sleep or receive treatment, localized discomfort, pain and even injury can result. This problem is exacerbated for the mature female because, while lying face down, the female cannot relax in a natural whole body extending position due to the breasts causing a distortion in body position that is both uncomfortable as well as stressful for various muscle groups and tissue.
The breast tissue is primarily composed of subcutaneous fat and is almost solely supported by suspensory ligaments connecting breast skin to the tissue that rests above the pectorals major. With traditional prior art flat treatment tables, the female patient, while lying prone, will experience uncomfortable and sometimes harmful pressure on all breast tissue, including stretching and tearing of the suspensory ligaments and compressing of the fat cells, often causing swelling to occur. Women with breast augmentations are faced with fear of possible ruptures and certainly severe discomfort.
Whether the individual is seeking a massage for relaxation or for therapeutic treatment, the body needs to be maintained in a relaxed position to achieve the highest degree of success. The thrust of the present invention is to provide a novel support apparatus that will achieve this result. More particularly, the present invention provides an adjustable personal treatment apparatus that is usable by persons of all sizes to enable them to enjoy, without harm, the full healthful benefits of proper and necessary massage and therapy.
Part of the reason that the problems described above have not been solved is that often the designers of traditional mattresses or, for instance, massage tables, keep them flat and ignore the problems described above. Also, the designers of tables or mattress materials have tried to address the issue of comfort, pain or injury, but; because of the degree of contour of the human body, changing the material of the mattress or the table, in and of itself, often is not alone enough to provide both the desired results when the present invention is used in body treatment practices.
While others have attempted to address some of the problems described above, there remains a need for an automated, adjustable body part and contour comfort system. The structures disclosed in the prior art suffer from one or more of the following shortcomings: (a) lack of adjustable recessed cup area; (b) requirement that the patient stand during treatment; (c) lack of portability; and (d) limited adjustability.